Donny Hathaway was a soul singer in the early 70s with much promise: unfortunately he suffered from depression, which limited his own creative output and led to his suicide at the age of just 33.
He started out as a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, the Staple Singers and Jerry Butler, among others. He soon signed to Atco and released a debut solo single, “The Ghetto Pt. 1”, which wasn’t a success but is now highly regarded by soul historians. In 1970 he released his classic debut album, Everything Is Everything, which showcased his wonderful voice on the gospel “Thank You Master (For My Soul)”, and the emerging social consciousness of soul music in “Tryin’ Times”. His second, self-titled album was a disappointing covers record, but he followed it with an epic Live album that stands as one of the best live soul records ever. He followed this with a duets album with close friend Roberta Flack, and a third studio album Extension of a Man in 1973. It was his final recorded album – after five more years of worsening depression, he jumped out of his apartment window in New York in January 1979.
Donny Hathaway – I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
Lyrics:
If I ever leave you baby….you can say I told you so
And if I ever hurt you ….. you know I hurt myself as well
Is that any way for a man to carry on
Do you think I want my loved one gone
Said I love you
More than you’ll ever know
More than you’ll ever know
When I wasn’t making much money
You know where my paycheck went
You know I brought it home to you baby
And I never spent a red cent
Heeey
Is that any way for a man to carry on
Do you think I want my loved one gone
Said I love you
More than you’ll ever know
More than you’ll ever know
Now listen to this
I’m not trying to be
Just any kind of man
No I ain’t
I’m just trying to be somebody
You can love, trust and understand
I know, I know, I know that I can be
A part of you that no one else could see
Yeah
But I gotta hear you say
I got to hear you say
It’s alright
I’m only flesh and blood
But I can be anything that you demand
I can be King of everything
Or just a tiny grain of sand
Now tell me
Is that anyway for a man to carry on
Do you think that I want my loved one gone
I love you
More than you’ll ever know
I said I love you
I love you
I love you
Heeey
Don’t want nobody else but you…..
